'A Disaster': Labour Accused Of Ditching Climate Change Pledges Over Gatwick Expansion

Labour have been accused of speeding up the climate crisis after giving the green light to a massive expansion of Gatwick Airport.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the £2.2 billion second runway plan could create thousands of jobs and boost the economy.

It comes after the government also gave its approval to a third runway at Heathrow Airport earlier this year.

The Gatwick expansion will see the airport move its emergency runway 12 metres north, enabling it to be used for about 100,000 more flights a year.

Reeves said: “This government promised to kickstart the economy – and we are.

“A second runway at Gatwick means thousands of more jobs and billions more in investment for the economy.”

But environmental campaigners blasted the move.

Green Party co-leader Zack Polanski said: “Signing off on a second runway at Gatwick is a disaster. It ignores basic climate science and risks undermining efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

“Labour keeps wheeling out the same nonsense about growth, but at what cost? What this really means is more pollution, more noise for local communities, and no real economic benefit.

“Expanding Gatwick is a tired, 20th-century answer to a 21st-century crisis. Labour’s obsession with growth at all costs is driving us deeper into a climate breakdown and social inequality crisis.” 

Rosie Downes, head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth, said: “With emissions from aviation rising as climate extremes increasingly batter the planet with more intense floods, droughts and wildfires, it’s a struggle to see how the government can conclude expansion at Gatwick is a wise move.”

She said the economic case for expanding the airport was “massively overstated”.

“Any growth in air passengers leaving the country is likely to mean more UK tourists using their spending power overseas than anything we might gain from visitors,” she said.

“Common sense would see the government championing measures that will both improve our lives and protect the planet if it’s serious about sustainable growth, such as upgrading the nation’s public transport infrastructure.

“If we’re to meet our legally-binding climate targets, today’s decision also makes it much harder for the government to approve expansion at Heathrow.”